OVERNIGHT BAKED BERRY CREAM CHEESE FRENCH TOAST

overnight baked berry French toast
overnight baked berry French toast
overnight baked berry French toast

Well hello their 2020, I kinda feel like I have been waiting for you…

I’m not sure what exactly it is, maybe something in the air, definitely something in the air, but I feel like there is some magic about to begin/happen here in 2020, like the 2020 decade is gonna be good. Maybe, mostly it is that I feel like I am finally back to myself. I feel like my creative juices are flowing and that I am ready to really bring this part of my life back. I started this blog back in 2014, (you can read my first post here, it is a dedication I made to my Dad (this all started because of him ya know). I had no idea where I was going to take my blog or what would happen with it. But I am ready to combine the two aspects that drive my creative side, and I think they collide quite well together really…

When I think of home, I think of comfort and when I think of comfort I think of food (in a good way, not in an over indulgent, I just ate too many donuts and now I feel like shit way). Design and food, beauty and comfort, slow and deliberate. Not much tastes better than a home cooked meal that has been deliberately thought out, that has taken its time to simmer and stew, so that its real true flavours can meld together in one perfect bite. The same goes for design, no home is a home without really taking the time to make that space a home.

There is this tendency to rush everything, our meals, our decor, our way to work, our lives. But when I think of the best moments in my life they are the ones where time slowed down and I was truly, fully aware of those moments. Which if you haven’t guessed it, can’t happen when we are rushing. The best roast is one that is slowly cooked, on a low temperature for hours and hours right? Well the best home is one that is designed years over years. After we have collected momentos, after we have sat in a chair over and over again so that it takes our shape, after our vision has slowly evolved and heirloom pieces are purchased or passed down…

overnight baked berry French toast
overnight baked berry French toast
overnight baked berry French toast
overnight baked berry French toast

If there is one thing I hope to bring to the world of design it is, to take your time. The best rooms don’t come together over night (even if the magazines and tv shows make them look like they do), they aren’t a one stop shop trip to home sense, no they are the ones where you add slowly and deliberately. They are an heirloom piece added to the living room, they are a couch that you saved up for because really truly, furniture is an investment. They are trinkets brought back from travels, books with the pages bent, kitchen islands with nicks in them because you dropped a pan one night after cleaning up the dinner party, bookcases with scratches because your bestie went to hug your hubby goodbye and knocked over a table that knocked into the cabinet that made the scratch (yup, happened over here to our new bookcase). Our homes are the the stories, and memories, and moments we experience in them and those, those my friends, don’t happen overnight. And really, thank goodness they don’t.

So this year is going to be a journey in all of that. In creating recipes that are timeless and go-to’s. In creating homes that are thoughtful and speak to who we truly are. My design philosophy, is not to create a space that is mine but to create a space that is yours. I want to help guide you and maybe show you a way or two but ultimately the space should be you, they should represent your family, decorated and designed to function in the way you need it to be.

I know my first post should have been a salad or something overly healthy (don’t worry I have some of those coming too) but an overnight baked French toast felt like the better way to go. This recipe is good guys, like really good. It is super simple to throw together, great for a big Sunday brunch or even a quick weekday breakfast (you can make it Sunday night and have it for a few mornings into the week). It is a bit indulgent but who doesn't need a little indulgence every once in a while. I hope it becomes one of your favourites like it has ours. Heck you could even make it for dessert instead of breakfast if you really wanted to.

Whenever you decide to make it this overnight baked berry French toast is now a staple over here and I hope it becomes one for you as well. Plus it is soooo much easier to make than flipping individual French toast all morning.

overnight baked berry French toast
overnight baked berry French toast
overnight baked berry French toast

Overnight baked berry cream cheese french toast

1 cup cream cheese

3 eggs

1 scant* cup whole milk

2 tbsp maple syrup

1.5 tsp vanilla

2 tbsp melted butter (cooled slightly)

zest of one lemon

1/4 tsp salt

8-10 tbsp raspberry jam

6-7 heaping cups of day-old cubed challah or brioche bread (or enough to fill an 9 inch round baking dish)

1/2 cup fresh berries

Directions

In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the cream cheese until smooth. Beat the eggs in one at a time. Add in the milk, maple syrup, vanilla, salt, melted butter and lemon zest and mix until all is incorporated (the cream cheese might not be completely smooth but that is ok, it all gets melty in the oven!).

Cube the challah or brioche into approx 1 inch squares. Day-old bread is the best to use and challah or brioche works really well with the recipe. I made the challah the night before and used my recipe here, just didn’t add the savoury filling. But feel free to buy a loaf from your local bakery.

Butter a 9 inch round ceramic baking dish. Using a slotted spoon dip the challah cubes into the egg mixture so they are fully coated and then transfer them to the baking dish. After one layer is in the dish, spoon a few dollops of raspberry jam (or a jam of your choice) throughout the dish. Add the final layer of soaked challah and then pour the remaining egg mixture over the entire dish. Spoon a few more dollops of jam onto the top layer, cover and place in the fridge for at least an hour or overnight.

When ready to bake preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Add 1/2 cup fresh berries (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries) on top, then bake for 50-55 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the custard is set (if the top if getting too browned before the bake is finished you can cover with tin foil).

Serve with a sprinkle of icing sugar, more fresh berries, fresh whip cream and maple syrup.

* Scant meaning: 1-2 tbsp less than a full cup.